Rudaw channel staff detained in Sinjar

24/2/2021

A security force detained Rudaw tv staff while on duty in Sinjar district on Wednesday morning.

Channel reporter Hiwa Helmaldin told the Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq that armed men in military uniforms detained their correspondent Tahsin Qassem and cameraman Nayef Edo, while covering the security situation in Sinjar, adding that the force that detained the colleagues claimed to belong to the popular mobilization.

The force also seized the team’s equipment after they took the colleagues to Tal Afar district, and they were not released until the time of writing, Hiwa said.

Press Freedom Advocacy Association condemns the detention of journalists, which violates the freedom of press and media workers in the country, and is a constitutional violation.

The association calls on the Ministry of Interior to identify the wherabouts of the journalists’ detention, release them immediately and provide protection to media cadres in the line of duty.